Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

Stock Based Awards

v3.23.1
Stock Based Awards
3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2023
Share-Based Payment Arrangement [Abstract]  
Stock Based Awards

6. Stock Based Awards

 

Equity Incentive Plans

 

The Company adopted an equity incentive plan in 2007 (the “2007 Plan”). The 2007 Plan has expired and the Company no longer issues any awards under the 2007 Plan. As of March 31, 2023, there is 0 of outstanding incentive stock options granted under the 2007 Plan that are eligible to purchase shares of the Company’s common stock at an exercise price equal to no less than the fair market value of such stock on the date of grant. The maximum term of options granted under the 2007 Plan was ten years.

 

The Company adopted a second equity incentive plan in 2015 (the “2015 Plan”) under which 833,333 shares of common stock have been reserved for issuance to employees, and nonemployee directors and consultants of the Company. Recipients of incentive stock options granted under the 2015 Plan shall be eligible to purchase shares of the Company’s common stock at an exercise price equal to no less than the estimated fair market value of such stock on the date of grant. The maximum term of options granted under the 2015 Plan is ten years. On June 16, 2021, the Company’s stockholders voted to approve an amendment to the 2015 Plan to increase the number of shares of common stock authorized for issuance under the 2015 Plan from 416,667 to 833,333 shares. As of March 31, 2023, 484,000 shares remain available for future grants under the 2015 Plan.

 

In July 2022, the Compensation Committee of the Company’s Board of Directors granted a total of 158,012 stock options with a fair value of $633,000 effective as of July 26, 2022. The Company granted the stock options to directors, executives, employees, and consultants. The options are ten-year incentive stock options exercisable at $0.42 per share and vesting as follows: one-half vested on the one-year anniversary of the grant date and the remainder vest in eight equal quarterly instalments on the last day of March, June, September and December, with the first such quarterly instalment having vested on March 31, 2023.

 

The following table summarizes stock option transactions for the 2007 Plan and 2015 Plan, collectively, for the three months ended March 31, 2023 (in thousands, except per share amounts):

 

    Number of
Shares
Available
for Grant
    Total
Options
Outstanding
    Weighted
Average
Exercise
Price
    Aggregate
Intrinsic
Value
 
Balance at December 31, 2022     484       350     $ 15.03     $ 0.00  
Increase in authorized options     -       -       -       -  
Exercised     -       -       -       -  
Granted     -       -       -       -  
Expired     -       -       -       -  
Cancelled     -       -       -       -  
Balance at March 31, 2023     484       350     $ 14.98     $ 0.00  

 

The Company accounts for share-based awards to employees and nonemployee directors and consultants in accordance with the provisions of ASC 718, Compensation—Stock Compensation., and under the recently issued guidance following FASB’s pronouncement, ASU 2018-07, Compensation—Stock Compensation (Topic 718): Improvements to Nonemployee Share-Based Payment Accounting. Under ASC 718, and applicable updates adopted, share-based awards are valued at fair value on the date of grant and that fair value is recognized over the requisite service, or vesting, period. The Company values its equity awards using the Black-Scholes option pricing model, and accounts for forfeitures when they occur. During the period ended March 31, 2023, the Company did not grant any stock options. For the three months ended March 31, 2023 and 2022, equity-based compensation expense recorded was $291,000 and $239,000 respectively.

 

 

The fair value of share option award is estimated using the Black-Scholes option pricing method based on the following weighted-average assumptions:

    2023     2022  
    Three Months Ended March 31,  
    2023     2022  
             
Risk-Free interest rate     1.64 %     1.04 %
Expected dividend yield     0.00 %     0.00 %
Expected volatility     87.81 %     76.24 %
Expected term (in years)     4.81       4.33  

 

As of March 31, 2023, there was approximately $761,000 of total unrecognized compensation expense related to non-vested stock options that is expected to be recognized over a weighted average period of 1.0 years. For options granted and outstanding, there were 350,000 options outstanding which were fully vested or expected to vest, with an aggregate intrinsic value of $0.00, a weighted average exercise price of $14.98 and weighted average remaining contractual term of 8.2 years at March 31, 2023. For vested and exercisable options, outstanding shares totaled 161,000, with an aggregate intrinsic value of $0.00. These options had a weighted average exercise price of $19.99 per share and a weighted-average remaining contractual term of 7.0 years at March 31, 2023.

 

The aggregate intrinsic value of outstanding and exercisable options at March 31, 2023 was calculated based on the closing price of the Company’s common stock as reported on The Nasdaq Capital Market on March 31, 2023 of $1.99 per share less the exercise price of the options. The aggregate intrinsic value is calculated based on the positive difference between the closing fair market value of the Company’s common stock and the exercise price of the underlying options.

 

Common Stock Reserved for Future Issuance

 

The following table presents information concerning common stock available for future issuance (in thousands) as of:

 

             
    March 31, 2023     March 31, 2022  
Stock options issued and outstanding     350       206  
Shares authorized for future option grants     484       629  
Warrants outstanding     13       20  
Total     847       855